In-form Proteas batters ‘feeding off each other’, says coach Conrad

South Africa’s batters are feeding well off each other as they start to find consistency at the highest level, according to Proteas coach Shukri Conrad, after they shone again in the dominant victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Durban which concluded on Saturday.

While all-rounder Marco Jansen was named Player of the Match after taking career-best figures of 11/86 with the ball, captain Temba Bavuma and Tristan Stubbs both scored centuries in the home team’s second innings as they paved the way to a 233-run win.

Having racked up six centuries in their last three Tests, Conrad said he was pleased to see the Proteas players growing together as a unit.

“I think there’s a lot to be said for confidence and feeding off each other,” Conrad said.

“Once you get the first hundred the group gains confidence from that. There’s also a lot of talk among them around how to go about their processes, so there’s a lot of sharing of knowledge.

“When the conditions are really good, we have the ability to get hundreds, and it’s really satisfying to know that.”

Digging deep when it’s tough

Despite the convincing victory over Sri Lanka, Conrad felt there were still areas the Proteas could work on as they looked ahead to the second and final Test against the tourists starting in Gqeberha on Thursday.

“We played really good cricket on what was a tough wicket to bat on first up, and the overhead conditions and rain (on day one) had a lot to do with that,” Conrad said.

“If anything, we still need to get better when it’s really tough, and that doesn’t necessarily mean getting 350 or 400 runs, but if we can minimise the loss of clusters of wickets and apply what we set out to do in terms of playing the conditions, that will be the one thing I think we’re really working towards.”

Maphaka called up

Meanwhile, another change was made to the national squad on Sunday ahead of the second Test next week.

Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was set to be sidelined for up to six weeks with a groin injury, and he was replaced by uncapped teenager Kwena Maphaka.

All-rounder Wiaan Mulder had already been withdrawn from the series, after missing most of the opening match due to a broken finger, and Matthew Breetzke had been called up.